Use of Hypnosis and Sensory Motor Stimulation To Aid Children with Learning Problems

Abstract

Data are presented which indicate that the combined use of hypnosis and sensory substitution for visual input may be beneficial to children with learning problems. Such techniques have been applied to children with the specific learning problem of number reversals. Following an initial session of hypnosis and two weeks of specific teaching procedures, five children in an experimental group had the total number of reversals reduced from an initial 10 to zero. For five children in the control group, without hypnosis or special training, number reversals increased from a total of 8 to a total of 13 over a two-week period. Neurological and psychiatric evaluation indicated that all children in both groups had learning disabilities which could be considered developmental, presumably resulting from a maturational lag of the nervous system.

The uses of hypnotherapy with learning disabled children

“…Studies of b ypnotherapeutic work with LD children are increasing (Illovsky & Freeman, 1976;Jampolsky, 1970Jampolsky, , 1975 with the widening attempt to educate optimally this population. The latter two of these studies employed hypnotic treatments administered to groups of LD students in ways that suggest potential mass usage by educators rather than one-to-one treatment by clinical personnel.…”

Integrating Pediatric Hypnosis with Complementary Modalities: Clinical Perspectives on Personalized Treatment

“…Groundbreaking publications addressed its efficacy in combination with or in lieu of conventional medical approaches for a remarkable range of pediatric health issues. These have included hypnosis for pediatric learning problems [ 11 , 12 , 13 ], anesthesia [ 14 ], asthma [ 15 ], drug abuse [ 16 ], burns [ 17 ], enuresis [ 18 , 19 , 20 ], functional megacolon [ 21 ], warts [ 22 ], sleep disorders [ 23 , 24 ], habit disorders [ 1 ], autism [ 25 ], pelvic exams [ 26 ], cancer [ 2 ], pain and procedure-related anxiety [ 27 ], psychoneuroimmunology [ 28 , 29 ], healing [ 30 ], refractory irritable bowel syndrome [ 31 ], hemophilia [ 32 ], chronic illness [ 33 ], hospitalization [ 34 ], emergencies [ 35 ], aphasia [ 36 ], Tourette’s syndrome [ 37 , 38 , 39 ], migraine [ 40 , 41 ], sickle cell disease [ 42 ], chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting [ 43 ], and behavioral issues [ 44 ].…”